Despite a category 3 summit half way through route, RadioShack rider Fabian Cancellara showed a return to form in preparation for the upcoming Worlds by winning Vuelta a España stage 11, the 38.8km Individual Time Trial in Tarazona. An early best was posted by current World Time Trial champion Tony Martin of Omega Pharma – Quick-Step with a time of 51’37”, but Cancellara upped the game by stopping the clock at 51minutes dead, more than half-a-minute faster than Martin. No one else came close to the top times and third place went to Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) at +1’24”. Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali finished fourth to secure a 33second lead over Saxo-Tinkoff’s Nicolas Roche in the GC.
Speaking of his stage victory Fabian Cancellara commented: ‘I’m happy that is over. It was a very hard parcours that was not perfect for a specialist, but I said to myself that I needed to do my race at my own pace and just find the right rhythm for myself… The uphill section was very rough especially with the wind. That caused a lot of disruption of my rhythm. Plus yesterday was the rest day so you never know how your body will respond on the day after and I’ve put in a lot of work in the first ten days of the Vuelta working for Chris Horner.’
The Vuelta a España continues with the 164.2km route from Maella to Tarragon and conclude in Madrid on September 15. For more information on the race see the Cyclo feature here.
